The instant invention is a crystalline salt of (R)-(Z)-1-Azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-3-one,O-[3-(3-methoxyphenyl)-2-propynyl] oxime, and maleic acid (1:1 ratio) (the compound) which provides a pharmaceutical form with properties superior to the free base or any of the other pharmaceutically acceptable salt forms of this compound.
The chemical structure of this salt is ##STR1##
Compounds of Formula I below, and more specifically a subset of compounds of Formula II below, are covered in U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,718 and its continuation-in-part U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,911 as muscarinic agonists, useful agents for the treatment of pain and cognitive decline associated with brain cholinergic deficiency, such as Alzheimer's disease.
Compounds of Formula II where Ar is a phenyl group substituted by one or two methoxy groups possess some of the most interesting profiles of pharmacological activity in vitro (Jaen, et al., Life Sciences, 1995;56:845-852 (Table I of the reference)). One of these compounds in particular (1), which contains a (3-methoxyphenyl)propargyl oxime side chain, was identified in this and earlier publications (Davis R., et al., Prog. Brain Res., 1993;98:439-445) as displaying a very favorable overall profile of pharmacological activity, as illustrated by its high affinity to rat cerebral cortex muscarinic receptors, the ability to displace an agonist radiolabeled ligand (cis-methyldioxolane) from muscarinic receptors at 246 times lower concentrations than those required to displace an antagonist radioligand (quinuclidinyl benzilate), and its ability to selectively stimulate m1-subtype muscarinic receptors without significant stimulation of other non-m1 muscarinic receptors. ##STR2##
A compound with the chemical structure of 1 above may exist as any of four stereochemical isomers, represented by 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d below. ##STR3##
Isomers 1a and 1b are enantiomers (i.e., mirror images of each other), the same being true for isomers 1c and 1d. Since the asymmetric center of these molecules is on a bridgehead carbon, which cannot epimerize under any normal conditions, resolution of these enantiomeric pairs (that is, separation of 1a from 1b or separation of 1c from 1d) can be accomplished by synthetic or resolution techniques described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,911 and is permanent. This means, for example, that 1a cannot interconvert to its enantiomer 1b and 1c cannot interconvert to 1d. On the other hand, 1a and 1c possess the same absolute stereochemistry at the bridgehead carbon atom but are geometric isomers of each other at the oxime carbon-nitrogen double bond. The same relationship exists between isomers 1b and 1d.
The muscarinic agonist efficacy of oxime 1 resides primarily in isomer 1a (Jaen ibid and Table I below). Tables II and III of the reference indicate that isomer 1a (designated R-8 in the Jaen reference) displays greater m1 receptor subtype selectivity and greater m1 potency than isomer 1b (designated S-8). The small amount of activity displayed by 1b could be due to the presence of small amounts of 1a in the samples of 1b. A comparison between 1a and a mixture of 1c/1d, shown in Table I below, indicates that 1a is more potent and more efficacious as a muscarinic agonist (as determined by the greater ratio of quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) to cis-methyldioxolane (CMD) binding for 1a). As a result of these and other experiments, 1a was identified as an optimal compound (high efficacy muscarinic agonist with high selectivity for m1 muscarinic receptor subtypes) for development as a treatment for cognitive malfunction associated with cholinergic deficits, such as Alzheimer's disease.
TABLE I ______________________________________ Muscarinic Receptor Binding CMD Binding QNB Binding Compound IC.sub.50 (nM) IC.sub.50 (nM) ______________________________________ 1a 25 5300 (1c + 1d).sup.a 150 14800 ______________________________________ .sup.a Racemic (E)oxime was used in these assays.
Some oxime carbon-nitrogen double bonds are relatively stable, while others can undergo facile rearrangement, typically in the presence of acid catalysts. The specific substitution pattern around the oxime moiety typically determines the chemical stability of the oxime (propensity to hydrolyze into its ketone and hydroxylamine components), its stereochemical integrity (the tendency of each geometric isomer to remain in the E or Z configuration), and the exact position of the thermodynamic equilibrium between both stereochemical forms (when chemical conditions are such that an equilibrium can be reached). As shown in Table II below, Compound 1a can undergo acid-catalyzed isomerization to produce its geometric isomer 1c. This equilibration is time- and pH-dependent. We have determined that the thermodynamic equilibrium ratio of 1a:1c in solution is approximately 85:15.
TABLE II ______________________________________ Z:E Peak Area Ratios as a Function of pH After 24 Hours Incubation of 1a at 37.degree. C. pH Peak-Area Ratio (1a:1c) ______________________________________ 0.1 N HCl 85:15 pH 1.97 88:12 pH 4.03 99.3:0.7 &gt;4.03 100:0 ______________________________________
There are multiple reasons for not considering an 85:15 mixture of these two isomers as an optimal entity for development as a pharmaceutical drug: The 85:15 ratio of isomers is not always produced in exactly equal amounts from batch to batch, interpretation of the pharmacology, toxicity, and clinical efficacy of such a mixture would be much more difficult than when dealing with a single compound, and the cost of developing a fixed mixture as a clinically useful drug would also be significantly higher; and finally, the physical properties of an 85:15 combination of isomers are less optimal than those of pure 1a in terms of crystallinity, physical, and chemical stability.
The development of 1a as a pharmaceutical drug required the identification of a salt form or free base of 1a with optimal physical and chemical properties. The most critical properties included: Easy and reproducible preparation, crystallinity, non-hygroscopicity, aqueous solubility, stability to visible and ultraviolet light, low rate of degradation under accelerated stability conditions of temperature and humidity, low rate of isomerization of 1a to its isomer 1c under these conditions, and safety for long-term administration to humans.
The free base and certain pharmaceutically acceptable salts are covered in U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,718 and continuation-in-part U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,911. The salts listed are: hydrochloric, sulfuric, phosphoric, acetic, benzoic, citric, malonic, salicylic, malic, fumaric, oxalic, succinic, tartaric, lactic, gluconic, ascorbic, maleic, aspartic, benzenesulfonic, methane and ethanesulfonic, hydroxymethane- and hydroxyethanesulfonic. There is no teaching or suggestion that the maleate is a superior salt form of the above structure. Clearly the excellent properties of the maleate salt were not known or appreciated until now.
These two patents are hereby incorporated by reference. We have discovered that not all of the salts are equally useful, as judged by the list of properties described above. In particular, we have discovered the unexpected excellent properties of the maleic acid salt (1:1) of 1a, which clearly distinguishes this salt.